TikTok commits to withdraw TikTok Lite from EU

It is the first DSA investigation to come to a close.

Video-sharing app TikTok has committed to permanently withdraw its TikTok Lite rewards program from the EU market, and to stop the roll-out of similar reward functionalities, the European Commission said today (5 August).
The commitments were made by TikTok to address concerns raised by the Commission in formal proceedings opened in April under the Digital Services Act (DSA). It is the first settlement that concludes a probe under the DSA – stringent platform rules which took effect in August last year. 
TikTok, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, was ordered in April by the Commission to suspend the app after the company started rolling out the functionalities in France and Spain. The EU executive was concerned about its potential impact on the mental health of users, in particular in relation to the potential stimulation of addictive behaviour. 
Through TikTok Lite, users over 18 years old can earn points under a so-called “Reward Program”, while performing certain tasks on the app, such as watching videos, liking content, following creators or inviting friends to join. These points can be exchanged for rewards, such as Amazon vouchers, gift cards via PayPal or TikTok’s coins currency.
The company voluntarily suspended the rollout of the TikTok Lite app, awaiting the outcome of the probe.
Today’s decision makes these commitments legally binding, meaning that any breach of the commitments would immediately amount to a breach of the DSA and could therefore lead to fines. 
“The available brain time of young Europeans is not a currency for social media — and it never will be. We have obtained the permanent withdrawal of TikTok Lite Rewards programme, which could have had very addictive consequences,” Thierry Breton, EU Commissioner for Internal Market, said in a statement.
A spokesperson for TikTok told Euronews that the company is “pleased to have reached an amicable resolution.”
Under the DSA, large online platforms are required to perform a risk assessment and submit a report to the Commission before launching any new functionalities that could have a critical impact on systemic risks.
The other pending investigations under the DSA into TikTok are not affected by today’s outcome, the Commission said. The EU executive has a number of other probes pending, including into X, Meta and Aliexpress.